Affair of the Heart
by poisonapplesandwine
Summary: AU after the Season 3 finale. After bringing Marian back, Emma promises to make it up to Regina, the only problem is she doesn't know exactly quite how. But when Regina starts to make a plan of her own, with the help of Rumple, things get complex. New and old threats come to Storybrooke, along with a very emotionally confused Savior, who may be starting to fall for the Evil Queen.
1. Chapter 1: Apologies

_Affair of the Heart_

_Written By: poisonapplesandwine_

_Beta: deartomysoul_

_Rating: M (primarily for later chapters)_

_A/N: Hello. So, this is my multi chapter SQ fic that I was writing. Just as a warning, this is going to be a kind of slow burn SQ, and there is a bit of CS and OQ in here, but mainly serving for the plot line, as it is set after the S3 finale. But Swan Queen is endgame, I promise. In the meantime, happy reading! I hope you enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, as much as I wish I did. I mean no infringement by this, I just wanted to make an alternative storyline. Which brings me to the next thing, which is that I do own the story. I'm a nice person, but when people steal my stuff, that kindness lowers significantly. So don't do it. Other than that, enjoy lovelies._

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Apologies**

_I love you._

Emma had the chance to say those words long ago, but she never did. But then again, she had never been sure about those three words until they flew out of her mouth. She was in love, and she couldn't stop. If only she wasn't about to lose the person she loved.

* * *

SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE:

"Regina, wait!" Emma yelled and pushed the door to exit the diner, trying to chase after the brunette haired woman.

Regina ignored her cries though, and walked onward, tears slipping out of her eyes one by one. She had just lost who was claimed to be her soulmate to his old wife, courtesy of Emma, of course. Not only was she heartbroken, she was angry as well; and the fact that Emma had decided to chase her to apologize, or something along those lines, it made her even more angry. Emma had no intention of giving up though, and soon caught up to Regina and grabbed her hand gently, but strong enough to withhold her from walking away.

"Regina," Emma huffed, trying to catch her breath from running, "can you please hear me out? I promise it'll take less than five minutes. Just, please."

Regina swiped her hand away from Emma, but didn't walk away. "Of course it will take less than five minutes. Because it's not going to happen. You've said, or should I say saved, enough."

"Regina, please. I didn't know she was Robin's wife. I was just trying to do the right thing. You have to believe me." Emma pleaded, all she wanted was for Regina to at least give her a chance to say what she needed to.

"I don't have to believe you, and as innocent as your intentions may have been, your actions have caused me much pain. You're lucky I haven't killed you by now, Miss Swan." Regina snapped, causing Emma to be taken aback for a second. Surely Regina wasn't going to kill her over this, it had been an accident, nothing more, nothing less.

"Regina, I would never mean to hurt you like that. Think about it, after everything we went though, and now we've just become friends, why on earth would I ruin everything just to screw you over?" Emma's tone was soft, but stern, "The answer is that I wouldn't. Not on purpose. Not now or ever."

"And how are you going to fix this exactly?" Regina replied, not letting the ever so apologetic look in Emma's green eyes get the better of her, "Because I don't see a way you can, princess."

Regina had never used that term for her before, and Emma knew for certain she was in deep trouble. She looked at the ground, then back at Regina, because she didn't have an answer. She had no bright ideas to fix it. She couldn't just go back in time and then not bring her back, she wasn't capable of such a thing, nevertheless would do such a thing, But she had to say something, otherwise everything she had with Regina would dissolve back to square one. And there was no way Emma was going to let that happen.

"Look, Regina, I don't have an answer right now." Regina almost walked away after that comment, but Emma grabbed her hand again and made her stay, "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop saying sorry. It's not going to mean I'm going to regret saving Marian either. What it means is that I'm going to make it up to you, I just don't know how yet. But I promise, I will make this up to you. I swear."

She gently let go of Regina's hand, allowing her to walk away, but Regina didn't move. Instead of running off in a huff, she grew a weary look on her face, but it soon became her sighing and returning her face to normal. "Oh Emma, you really are a Charming, aren't you?"

Emma didn't have a chance to rebuttal, as Regina walked down the street and turned the corner, Emma only able to watch. She was almost oblivious to the sound of footsteps coming her way, which caused her to turn around, only to find a certain pirate heading in her direction.

_Just great,_ She thought, the pirate was the last thing she needed right then, as she knew she was going to have to play along with the love affair game.

"There you are," Hook began, "your parents said you went on a chase after Regina. What happened, love? You okay?"

He tried to be cozy with her, but she just shrugged it off. "I'm fine, and nothing happened. I just tried to apologize is all."

"That's a bold move on your part Swan, considering she was about ready to chuck one of those fireballs at your head." he joked, but Emma didn't laugh, "Okay, nevermind. Did she accept your apology? Or did she curse you to damnation?"

"She didn't accept," Emma sighed, "but she didn't not accept it either. I swore I would make it up to her, and she just made some comment about me 'being a Charming' and walked away." Emma looked back to the corner, half hoping Regina would come back around, but it didn't happen, "So I guess that's an effort."

"Sounds like Regina to me," Hook said, wanting to move on from the matter, "How about we go back to the diner and forget about her, okay? I'm sure some rum would make all your troubles go away. And I'm sure your parents want you around for your baby brother, Neal."

As inviting as it sounded, Emma didn't want to go. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, try to think of ways to keep her word on the apology she had just made. But, she knew Hook was right, and that her family was waiting for her back at the diner. She couldn't just blow them off like that. So she would have to suffer through Hook being flirtatious with her, and maybe having some rum in her system wasn't such bad of an idea.

"Okay," Emma finally answered, and started making her way to the diner. She flinched a bit when Hook placed his arm around her, but the man didn't notice at all. Why did she have to kiss him earlier? She wasn't one to send mixed messages, but Killian would have to suffice as an exception.

When they finally arrived back at the diner, it seemed like no one noticed she was gone except Hook. Everyone still had their full attention on her parents, and her little brother, of course. Which was a good thing for Emma, at least no one would have noticed as she would be slowly getting intoxicated over the course of time.

"Hook," she said and shrugged his arm off of her, "Can you get me something to drink? I'm going to check in with my parents."

He responded with a simple head nod, and then walked over to the counter. Emma walked over to where her family was seated, Henry playing with baby Neal while Snow and Charming cast cozy in the booth, not able to notice Emma coming their way until she said something.

"Hey." She simply said, which caught her parents' attention.

"Oh Emma," Snow said, half startled, "you're back. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's just fine. We can talk about it later." Emma said while sliding next to Henry in the booth, the cold leather of the seat soothed her as she did so. Henry looked at his new uncle with joy, which kind of reminded Emma of the expressions he made when he got a new game system back in New York. It made her happy thinking of those memories, but then soon shaking them out of her head when she remembered that most of those memories weren't real ones. Damn Pan for making her have to go to New York, and having Regina give them a happy life that mainly consisted of lies.

But when you're the savior, you don't get very many options when it comes to happy endings.

* * *

Emma watched Henry continue to play with his uncle as Hook returned with four glasses of alcohol and then set them on the table.

"I only wanted one," Emma said quietly, still not feeling quite right about sitting in the same diner as the man Regina loved, along with his wife and child, who were now sitting two booths down, as happy as can be.

"Oh, I did get you one, darling," he said, and then moved two of the glasses over to her parents, and then got two puzzled looks in response, "Those are for your parents. Figured everyone deserved a round after the week we've all had."

"Wow Hook," Snow began, plainly staring at the glass and the golden yellow substance that was inside, "that was very nice of you. And since I'm not pregnant anymore, I guess I'll take this."

"As long as there's no poison in this, I guess that I'll accept your offer as well." Charming said, raising the glass to the center of the table, "Here, how about a cheers to the newest addition to our family, and to happy days from now on?"

"Cheers!" they all said simultaneously, even Henry, who had lifted his soda can to join himself in the cheer. The only one who wasn't that cheerful about it was Emma, who's eyes kept looking back to the other happy family while her family and Hook chatted and shared some laughs. Her mind kept constantly wondering back to Regina throughout the entire night, and what she would be doing, how many dishes she broke, how many glasses of wine she had downed already, or how many ways she had planned to extract her revenge by then.

* * *

The answers to those questions were quite simple. Regina sat in her study, who had already moved on to her second glass of red wine, hadn't broken any dishes, and had already planned more ways to extract her revenge than she could count, even if she had been sober. But the main feeling she had felt wasn't anger, it was sadness. She finally had a chance at a happy ending, and it was ripped away from her, just like it always had ended up. First Daniel, and then Henry a few times, and now Robin. She still didn't know she could fall so hard so fast, then have her heart broken amended and then broken even faster than she fell for the man.

_I'm such an idiot. _She thought to herself, bringing the rim of the glass back to her lips, _Why did I think I could have a happy ending? They're all right, I'm a villain, and I don't get happy endings. No matter how much I change. If it wasn't for stupid fate…_

Her thoughts were be interrupted though, as a familiar voice rang through the study.

"Don't get so upset dearie," Rumple said, which caused Reigna to almost spill her drink, "This is nothing to waste, or should I say spill, wine over."

Regina set the glass down on the nearest table and turned to face Rumple, who had a smug look displayed across his face. "What do you want, imp?"

He rolled his eyes at the comment, only being coy while doing so. "It's not nice to call people names dear, someone's feelings could get hurt." he teased, only to make Regina's anger increase.

"I asked you a question, and I want an answer. In case you didn't fully comprehend the first time, what are you doing here?" Regina snapped, not in the mood for any of Rumple's sick games. "Shouldn't you and the bookworm be well on your way to your honeymoon?"

"Tsk, tsk, someone's being quite rude. But I'm going to ignore that." Rumple sat down in the chair across from Regina, putting his pointer finger up to silence her before she objected. "Yes, I should be on the way to my honeymoon with my wife, _Belle_, but, I wanted to bid you a goodbye before doing so. Too bad you didn't get to witness the wedding dear, I bet you and your new lover would've enjoyed it."

Regina shot him a warning look, but Rumple only laughed, "Oh that's right, he's with the other woman. What's her name… Mary? No, wait, I believe her name is Marian."

The count of dishes broken had risen from zero to one; as Regina chucked her wine glass at him in her state of anger, but the imp dodged it, only luckily. "I'm going to ask you one more time you obnoxious bastard, why the hell are you here?"

Rumple knew to stop playing games, or at least get to the point anyway, as he finally drove Regina to the breaking point. The last thing she needed was Rumplestiltskin making a mockery of her in her state. He sighed deeply before he continued, "I'm here to tell you that I can help you fix that little _problem_ of yours. And no one will prove that either of us did it."

That had gotten Regina's attention.

"You see, you can kill this Marian woman, and get the man who has been claimed to be your soulmate back, if you do a simple spell. It's not that complicated, actually, not at all." he stood up and walked towards Regina, who now had his undivided attention, "All you have to do is cast a voodoo spell. One lock of her hair, one needle, one doll that you enchant to control her, one stab to the heart, or a couple if you feel like, unenchant the doll, and then burn it. No one will ever know. It'll make it seem like a heart attack, and then when she's dead, you can have your precious toy back."

"That's all I have to do?" Regina said quizzically, not entirely sure she was okay with the whole plan.

"Yes, that's it. Simple and easy. If you need the enchantment spell, there's a spell book in my shop, right under the cash register." he replied as he tried to manipulate Regina into doing as he pleased.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because deaire, I know you." he whispered, "And I know you're one to fight for what you want. I'm just handing you the shortcut."

Rumple walked backwards and started to head out the door of the study, but decided to make one last remark before he went off to his new wife. "Be careful dear, mishandle it, and you could give up your happy ending."

And with that he walked out to the car that had been awaiting for him to return, an anxious Belle who resided inside. Regina thought hard about his words, and everything she could lose if it all went wrong. But if the spell was her only chance at a happy ending with Robin, then she had to take it.

But things don't always end up the way they're planned.

* * *

_A/N 2: Well that was the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed. Nice reviews, favourites and follows are greatly appreciated, but you reading this alone still makes me happy. I will try to update when I can, school starts back up in six days for me, so I don't know how much time I will have on my hands. But I promise I will finish this, and it's going to be quite lengthy, so prepare for that._

_So that's it for now. Until next time lovelies!_


	2. Chapter 2: Plans

**Chapter Two**

**Plans**

_A/N: Chapter two! Whoop. __I am sorry I didn't update this for a couple weeks. School started and I'm sick right now, and my life just is fucked up right now. ____But I will try my hardest to update when I can, which most likely will be on weekends. _

___And also, s_orry about the amount of CS and OQ, (I don't even ship CS and OQ doesn't bother me as much as it used to, so I'm also biting myself in the ass writing all the CS and OQ just as much as you're suffering though it.) they're part of the storyline and should be over sooner than you know it. But in order to get happiness, you have to overcome obstacles. So besides that, t___hanks for reading and more to come soon. Until next time lovelies..._

* * *

Emma woke the next morning feeling a small pain in her head, most likely the consequence of having one too many drinks the night prior. She was alone in her room at least, grateful for the situation. She picked up her phone and checked for the time. 7:48 am. At least she had time to get some headache medicine in her system before the rest of her family awoke, but her chances of getting breakfast before she had to go back to work were slim to none. But at least there were bear claws at Granny's if she still needed breakfast.

She almost flung the blankets off of her as she got out of her bed, and had been careless enough to not make up the bed afterwards. She walked to the door of her bedroom and opened it, only to wake up to her parents lying dead tired on the couch and her baby brother sleeping soundly in his crib. Of course Emma had forgotten about her brother, and how much he disliked sleeping during the evening and night hours. The misfortune was the more logical reason Emma had a headache, or at least it seemed.

She slowly walked into the kitchen, trying not to wake anyone, and grabbed the headache pills her mother had left on the counter, much to her quietly took two of the tiny pills out of the bottle and made a silent exit to her room, only to close her door, turn around and then trip on one of the blankets she had left on the floor, which caused a loud thud. Which happened to be loud enough to wake her sleeping brother, and her parents in return.

It was a long morning after all.

* * *

The night prior was much more stressful for Regina, as she had been barely able to sleep, and every time she finally did, Rumple's words rang in her head, along with the thought of Robin and his once again happy family, and then her eyes ripped open after every nightmare, not wanting to be in it any longer. But the need to sleep had always dragged her back into slumber, and back into the nightmare.

_One lock of her hair, one needle, one doll that you enchant to control her, one stab to the heart, or a couple if you feel like, unenchant the doll, and then burn it. No one will ever know…_

The image of her casting the spell and the scene of Marian slowly falling to her demise kept replaying in her dream, but each time Marian was in a different place. The park, swinging little Roland on the swings, on an evening stroll with Robin, making dinner for the family, all good things and what would have been happy memories for them. And they were ruined each time by her hands, her anger, solely her and only her.

_...and then when she's dead, you can have your precious toy back._

The images changed to Marian's funeral, and Regina hiding in the trees far in the background, not able to join the crowd, because the only thing she would do is regret everything she'd done. And she couldn't bare Robin's sadness, or his son's either. She couldn't lay a flower on the woman's grave, because it would taint the meaning of all the others. Because she wasn't going to be remorseful, or at least not fully.

But then suddenly, Robin glanced back, almost like he was hoping his wife would emerge through the forest and return to him, but she didn't. And his eyes ended up locked with Regina's, as if fate had played a sick game and had gotten her caught, and she could just see the lost, deprived soul of his behind those eyes, not believing he lost his wife once again. And it destroyed every last ounce of strength Regina had in her.

_**...you can have your precious toy back.**_

Those were the last words Regina heard in her dream before she woke up screaming, only to silence herself seconds later. The time of day had turned into morning since she last woke from the horrid dreams. The sunlight shone on the empty area next to her, almost like it had been trying to show her that someone was missing and tried to make up for it. She felt like crying, but thought better of it. This was not matter to cry over, it had only been a dream.

A really, really bad one. That felt all too real.

But it was up to her to make the choice, kill Marian and somehow win Robin back, or watch Marian live happy with her family and take away her happy ending. She had to choose one, because she wasn't the kind to be a homewrecker, and then wasn't going to be the time she started to become one. But if she was going to get the happy ending she ever so desired, then she had to do it.

She had to kill Marian. She had to do the spell.

But to what cost?

* * *

Emma slouched in her chair in the sheriff's office, bear claw in mouth, coffee on the table. Even though her mother had told her to take a day off, the streets of Storybrooke needed protection, and if that meant she had to go to work, then that's how it had to be. At least she didn't have to deal with screaming baby noises, or diaper changing.

_Note to self: look at those apartments Henry had been mentioning. _She thought as she bit into her next delicious bite of her bear claw. She enjoyed the wonderful taste of the pastry for only a few moments, until the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said annoyingly, still eating the food in her mouth.

"Emma?" her mother yelled, which hurt the blonde's ears momentarily, as her mother was trying to drown out the noises in the background, "When you were younger, did you happen to know any babies?"

"Yeah," Emma said; as much as the comment hurt her, she answered the question anyway. "Why are you asking me this? It's not like I remember how to make Neal stop crying."

The name of her brother felt bitter on her tongue, if only her parents named the child Daniel or something, saying the name of her now deceased ex-lover still didn't sit right with her.

"Well that's a shame, because that's exactly what I was going to ask you." her mother said, only to have Charming say something that was inaudible to Emma seconds afterwards, "No honey, we are going to magically charm the baby to sleep! Have you lost your mind?"

The comment made Emma laugh a little bit, apparently her father had lost his mind, but Emma didn't blame the man either.

"Look," Emma began, reverting back to her more serious tone, "why don't you ask Ashley, er, _Ella_, if she can help you. She had a kid, she knows how to take care of it. I can't help you."

"But Emma,"

Snow didn't get to finish that sentence, Emma just hung up the phone. If they were going to ask her for help, couldn't they have done it _after_ she was finished working? It wasn't like she could stop arresting someone just to tell her something that Google could've done for her.

She rolled her eyes and took in the last bite of her breakfast, and then a sip of coffee, which caused a hot, but delightful, feeling in her throat. She only had to get through eight more hours of her usual duties, and then she could go home and hopefully relax.

Or so she thought.

* * *

Regina almost had everything she needed. She had magically made a doll that looked like Marian, the spellbook, and one needle, all she needed was one strand of Marian's hair. All she needed to do was somehow manage to get the hair.

The plan just ended up being the reason she was in the place where Robin and his family were residing.

She magically had gotten her way into the house, but made sure everyone was pasleep before she went in. She wandered around the house quietly, making sure she didn't get herself caught. She house was very well kept, it seemed like there wasn't a single thing out of place. She opened a door slowly, which led to the room that little Roland was sleeping in, who was snoring softly while he lied under the blankets that covered his little body. Regina sighed quietly at the sight, wishing she could sit next to the child until he awoke, and then greet him with a smile. But she coulndn't do that, not anymore. And that stung her a little bit.

She closed the door slowly, accidentally leaving it slightly ajar, before moving onto the next door, which is the one she was looking for, which held Robin and Marian, who laid in the bed together, Robin's arm wrapped around Marian, like he was shielding her from anyone or anything that could hurt her, which made Regina sick, and also slightly contrite. But she shoved the regretful feeling down, as she knew what she had to do.

She cast a spell to freeze the two, so she could take a few strands of Mairan's hair without waking them, and then facing the consequences of breaking and entering aftermath. She walked over to Marian, but stopped to look at the woman in front of her. She looked so innocent, so weak, but yet so loved. She was like a ghost that haunted Regina, and no matter how much she wanted that ghost gone, she still felt a tinge of pain as she plucked a few strands of hair from the woman, and then shoved the feeling back down once again with all the might she had as she placed the hairs in her pocket.

When she was the Evil Queen, she felt almost no mercy for anyone. She was the person who took away happy endings, and then felt no pain as she watched the victims suffer. It should've been second nature to her by then, even though she had tried so hard to change, that part of her was still there, and always would be.

So why the hell couldn't she do this one simple thing without battling out the angel and devil inside of her?

She just walked out the room, unenchanting her victims before she did so, and shut the door soundlessly. She started to walk to the door, and almost made it, until a young voice rang faint across the room.

"Mom?" little Roland asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes, which caused Regina to turn around sharply. It only took the child a few seconds to realize that the woman that stood before him was not his mother, and the woman his father had been dating for awhile. "Wait, you're not my mommy."

"Roland," Regina began soothingly, with a hint of fear mixed in, "please go back to bed. Forget that I was here. Your daddy just left something of his with me and I wanted to return it." she lied, just hoping that the child would buy it, "Please, go back to bed."

"Okay." the boy responded, not being able to see the lie that had been layered inside those words, which Regina had been grateful for.

As the boy walked back to his room, Regina hastily walked out the door and ran from the house, and caused a pain in her feet, as running in boots wasn't the brightest idea. But Reigna ignored the throbbing pain and ran farther, and started to let the remorse grow on her with every step she took.

Maybe the whole thing was a bad idea after all.

* * *

Emma had been driving her police car down the streets of town, doing her usual drive around to check up on the town's streets, when a static noise sounded from the radio in the car, only a few vowels of what the person on the other end was trying to say audible.

"What? I can't hear you, say it again." Emma replied, adjusting the radio a little bit so the signal was much more clear.

"There's been a breaking and entering," Leroy said, his low tone finally understandable, "at that Robin Hood guy's place."

"Okay," Emma said while rerouting to get to Robin's house, "is anyone hurt? Do I need to call an ambulance or something?"

"No, everyone's alright. But the little kid of his mentioned something about Regina being there to give something back to the dude. I kinda doubt that's what she was doing though." Leroy said, which caused Emma to stop the car short.

_Oh no._

"Tell them I'll handle it, I have to go pay a visit to Regina." Emma said, putting the car in reverse and turning around to head to the manor.

"But don't you want to.." Leroy began, but Emma shut the radio off and drove faster, not even bothering to turn the lights on.

If Regina had in fact broken into Robin's house, then Emma knew Regina was going to do something. And nothing good either.

* * *

Regina had set up the whole getup she needed for the spell; the doll laid on a table next to the spellbook, and the needle stored in a pencil holder a few inches away. According to the book, all she had to do was enchant the hair and wrap it around the doll, and be careful not to break it. Then she just had to take a stab. Then it would all be over.

_**...you can have your precious toy back.**_

The sound of Rumple's voice still rang in her head, as she recalled all his instructions and every word he spoke that stuck her in the heart.

_...One lock of her hair, one needle, one doll that you enchant to control her, one stab to the heart…_

_...unenchant the doll, and then burn it. No one will ever know. _

_...and then when she's dead, you can have your precious toy back._

_**...I'm just handing you the shortcut.**_

She enchanted the thin and fragile pieces of hair and then wrapped one around the wrist of the doll, almost like a bracelet. She took a step back and looked at the scene around her, and swallowed her pride, or what was left of it anyway. She picked up the needle from the holder, took in one sharp breath, and closed her eyes, ready to take a stab.

..._you can have your precious toy back._

And she almost did, she almost stabbed the doll with the last ounce of strength she had within her, until she felt another hand grab her wrist.


	3. Chapter 3: A Bend In Plans

**Chapter Three**

**A Bend In Plans**

_A/N: Now that I have some free time, here's chapter three. This is where things start to become more SQ centric, I swear.__And thank you for all the reviews so far, it's nice to see them in my sea of e-mails. Hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

"Regina, don't do it."

Regina opened her eyes and turned her head to the direction of where the sound had come from, only to find Emma had been the one who grabbed her wrist and was trying to stop her from something she might regret.

"Emma?" Regina asked, puzzled on just how the blonde had arrived in her house, "What are you doing here?"

"Word got around that someone broke into Robin's house. The little kid just happened to point out that you were there. And based on what is going on right now, I'm a thousand percent sure you were there." Emma answered and still didn't let go of Regina's wrist.

_Damn it. Why did I trust that child? Of course he wouldn't keep his mouth shut. _Regina thought bitterly and vowed to herself to next time to enchant the kid, or something along those lines.

"Regina, put the doll down." Emma coaxed, "We can handle this some other way. Please don't do whatever it is you were going to do just to get Robin. It's not worth all the harm you're going to cause."

Emma's grip loosened a little bit, but she still had a hold on the burnette. She didn't want to let her right then, not yet.

"How would you know?" Regina blurted, starting to get on the defensive, "You didn't have your happy ending taken from you. You still have one, at least one you don't have to fight for. If you haven't noticed, I'm still the Evil Queen to everyone, even if they shove it down or not. I may be changing, but I can't change the past." Regina's mood turned sour as the spoke those words, yet she wanted to not believe them, "Unlike some people."

As much as the last sentence had another meaning between the lines, Emma ignored it and turned Regina fully by the wrist to face her, face to face.

"Listen, not everyone thinks about you like that. Think about Henry, do you really think he does after all you've been through?" Emma could see the pain in Regina's eyes after she mentioned their son, and it hurt herself a bit in return, "And what about me? If there's one person in the whole amount of worlds in existence who doesn't think of you like that, it's me. I've always known you as Regina. Sure, you were a major pain in my ass at first, but you were never evil to me. You were just Regina."

Regina hung her head down, not being able to look at Emma for much longer without taking the chance of tearing up. The words Emma said shouldn't have hit her right in the heart as hard as they did, but that didn't change the amount of pain in her heart right then.

"I said I was going to make it up to you, and I am dead set on keeping that promise. Last night when I went back to the diner, they were sitting a few booths down. Every time I looked at them, I kept thinking about you. I kept thinking about what I did. You think looking at them makes you feel like crap? Well I'm being punished too." Emma swallowed down the lump that started to form in her throat, "But as much as killing Marian is going to solve problems, it's going to create thousands more. You're making a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

As much as Regina hated to admit it, Emma was right. And she knew she was even before she said anything, because of all the times Regina had to shove down her better half telling her that what she was doing was wrong. And Emma just pushed her over the edge, giving that little devil inside of her the full push to send it away.

Only Emma Swan.

Regina dropped the needle from in between her fingers and let it fall to the floor, finally giving up on the fight. She didn't shed any tears, as much as she wanted to. She just simply gave up.

Emma started to grow a soft smile of thankfulness on her face, relieved that she had gotten through to Regina. She picked up the needle and placed it in her jean pocket, keeping it safe in case Regina decided to change her mind all of a sudden. She looked back to Regina, whose head was still hung low, and face still gleaming with sadness.

"Regina…" Emma started softly, reaching her arm out to touch the woman's shoulder, "You okay?"

It was a very redundant question, but she asked it anyway. But what she got in response was silence. A dry, heavy silence, and it filled the air hastily. It was just them in the room, no one else, but it seemed like a thousand eyes were on them, just daring one of them to say something. But neither of them could say anything, at least not for awhile.

"What if I missed my chance?" Regina whispered quietly, almost to the point where Emma couldn't hear her.

"I'm sure you didn't." Emma said, moving even more towards the woman that stood in front of her, "If this whole soulmate mumbo-jumbo is actually true and works, then if you're meant to be with Robin, then you will be. I mean, my parents always found each other, they're inseparable. Why? Because it's true love. Which just furthers my point."

As stupid as it sounded, the words gave Regina hope. Snow and Charming had always found their way back to each other, no matter how many things Regina, or anyone else for that matter, did to them. Hell, they were cursed for twenty-eight years and found their way back together. Even before the cure broke. Regina even tried to pin Snow, or Mary Margaret, for murder and it didn't even work. Emma did have one hell of a point.

All she could do was hope Emma was right.

"Now, as much as I hate to do this right after the heart to heart we just had," Emma began, which caused Regina to shoot her a look of confusion, "I still have to drag you down to the station. You did break into Robin's house."

Regina rolled her eyes at that, as she had forgotten about the breaking and entering charge, and possibly attempted murder. But that part would depend on if Emma kept the so called "heart to heart" just between them.

* * *

"So, she just poofed in the house?" Snow asked, taking another piece of lasagna in her mouth.

It was six in the evening when Emma arrived back home, only after buying dinner from Granny's by Snow's request, and by then word of Regina's little magic break in had apparently spread all over town. Because why wouldn't the news of the former mayor of Storybrooke breaking into her ex's house not be entertaining to the citizens of the town?

And the worse part of it all was that Snow decided that it would make a good dinner conversation. While Henry was present.

Emma took another stab at her dinner, successfully nabbing a small piece of lasagna before placing it in her mouth. She really didn't feel like talking about the matter, Regina was in the small cell at the station, out of anyone's way. It wasn't like she was going to hurt anyone from the cell, Emma made her promise before she left. But then again, her parents weren't the kind to be trustworthy about Regina. She did do things in the past that made their reasons for not being able to trust her quite reasonable. But that had been beside the point.

"Yes," Emma answered after finishing the bite of lasagna, "she just poofed in the place. She just wanted to return something of his, that's it."

_And also tried to get something to kill Marian. _Emma thought, but wouldn't dare say so to her family. She promised Regina that she wouldn't say anything about the whole Marian situation to anyone else, especially Henry. It was the only way Regina would promise to stay in the cell.

"Couldn't she have just left it on his doorstep or came back later?" Henry suddenly asked, as he decided to put himself in the family dinner conversation, "I mean, it's not like he would hurt her or anything, right?"

"It's complicated, kid." Emma said, trying to end the conversation entirely, "Regina and Robin are in a rough patch right now. It would've hurt both of them too much to see each other right now. She just made a small mistake, okay?" Emma looked at her parents before continuing, "She promised she wouldn't do it again."

Her parents had gotten Emma's subtle hint to end the discussion, and simply nodded their heads to put an end to the ordeal. The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence, disregarding the casual request for more water or seasonings, which gave Emma some time to finally relax and enjoy something for the first time that day.

At least for a while.

* * *

While the Charmings enjoyed their dinner, Regina sat alone in the sheriff's office, with only her thoughts to entertain her. She had hoped that Emma would keep her promise and come back with a meal for her to eat later, but the hope had started to fade as the minutes ticked away on the wall.

She had stopped feeling queasy and inconsolable, she felt hungry and impatient more than anything else. She had stopped thinking about Robin and his happy family, and had thought about more happy things, like the fact that she could finally not have to be chasing down dreaded Lost Boys or deal with her sister's schemes anymore.

But as she thought about Zelena, she felt a bit bitter that her sister ended her life just to enact a useless curse. Or at least that's what she knew happened to her sister.

She could just live in peace in Storybrooke for awhile, until the next unhinged magical occurrence took place. Or so she thought.

"Well, well. It seems like someone didn't follow the plan."

Regina's instantly scanned the room for the source of those words, only to find an unhappy Rumplestiltskin atop Emma's desk seconds later.

_Just great._

"I thought you were out," Regina snarled coldly, not wanting anything to do with him at that moment.

"Oh, I am, I just wanted to check in." he replied, "And it looks like someone got caught. Tell me dear, how exactly did you just manage to get caught. The plan was flawless."

Regina sighed deeply before sitting up fully against the cold tile of the small jail's back wall. "Oh, your plan had one flaw. And that flaw is Emma Swan."

"No dear, the flaw is you. Don't lie to yourself, or me for that matter." he stood from the desk and walked toward the cell, "I saw everything. As soon as you enchanted the doll. I froze Belle and watched it all unfold via the mirror in the room."

_Damn it._

"You really shouldn't let one person persuade you that much dear, it can really be a damaging flaw." he was then in front of the bars to the cell, looking Regina dead in the eyes, "Letting her do such things to you is going to only bring karma upon yourself. Or something much worse."

Regina had quickly wondered what he meant by "something much worse", but then shook the feeling off. She decided it was best not to further herself into it. "It's not your business to care about who persuades me or who doesn't. Hell, this was none of your business to begin with. So why do you keep investing yourself into it?"

"That, that is for another day, and another conversation." he began to tap the bars rhythmically, to add dramatic effect, "But since I have a wife to get back to, let me make this quick. You can still go through with the plan and kill Mairan, or let Emma control you into not doing it and suffering. Your choice dear, but I know how each matter will play out. I'm just letting you choose your fate."

At that point Reigna knew that Rumple was hiding something, but she couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what. But she didn't get to ask anymore questions when Rumple disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving her to think about what the sly bastard was hiding. At least for few minutes.

"Hey Regina," Emma said after knocking on the wall to inform Regina she had come back a few minutes later, "You hungry?"


End file.
